RIP Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom

The other day, I learned that Alexi Laiho had passed away. For those that don’t know. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist for the great melodic death/speed metal band called Children of Bodom. Or CoB for short.

It brought great sadness to hear of his passing. He was a huge influence on my choice of t-shirts, music influence, and vocal style.

I clearly remember seeing him in an interview wearing a t-shirt that said: “guitar players finger better”. At the time, I was a young teenager, and for some reason, I really wanted that t-shirt. I actually bought it, and it brought lots of hilarious memories which would have never happened before.

Then there was the time I went to Download Festival (I believe it was in 2009). The second time my friends and I went to the infamous rock/metal festival, we went to see CoB in the second stage. During their performance, I remember entering a circle pit and losing a shoe. You can’t stop and grab it in a circle pit because everyone is running in one direction. During the performance, I couldn’t find my shoe, but I could still take in and enjoy their energetic performance. They were incredible and truly inspiring to me.

Because of Alexi and CoB, I became a scream vocalist in a melodic death metal band where we had some much fun. We didn’t get anywhere, but we had a great time, and Alexi was usually in my mind when I screamed. He was an idol to me. Also, without CoB Trivium either wouldn’t have existed, or they would have been completely different. You see, Trivium was another influence for me.

Alexi and his band were influential in so many ways to so many people and groups that the world would have been very different without him. Unfortunately, he passed away due to long term health issues at the age of 41, but at least he’s no longer in pain. May he rest in peace, and I hope he’s rocking out with all the other rock/metal artists who have passed away. He may be gone, but he will most certainly never be forgotten.

Subscribe to my weekly newsletter!

If you’d like a weekly email in your inbox, please join the newsletter by entering your email address below.

By subscribing, you agree with Revue’s Terms and Privacy Policy.